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  • Politics: Torra and Urkullu plant Pedro Sánchez and will not attend the Conference of Presidents in La Rioja

The rosary of outbreaks of the pandemic and a coordinated plan to face it is the main objective that a good number of regional leaders carry in the portfolio today to the Conference of Presidents called by Pedro Sánchez in San Millán de la Cogolla . The assessment of the agreement reached in the EU under which Spain is awarded aid of 140,000 million for the revival of the country is also included in the agenda of the meeting and the communities will advocate a "fair distribution" of funds and concrete proposals on the application of the same.

The priority concern of the CCAA is now focused on the control of the virus and on the adoption of "clear and common" measures to prevent the outbreaks from acquiring the second wave of the disease and spreading between territories. "Criteria and country plans", in the words of the Manchego Castilian President Emiliano García-Page that have found an echo in most of his counterparts.

However, the regional interest in this point finds limited complicity in the Government, convinced, as the Health Minister, Salvador Illa, assured in Congress yesterday that the situation "is controlled" because most of the outbreaks affect few people, many of the cases detected are asymptomatic or mild and there is no pressure in the healthcare system. Illa rules out the possibility suggested by some parliamentary forces to retake the "single command" in those territories where a greater rebound of the epidemic has been detected.

On the ground, things are seen differently: Castilla-La Mancha and Aragón fear possible contagions imported from Madrid and Catalonia and argue that they do not have the power to, if necessary, close the borders with these neighboring territories. Aragon, one of the communities currently most affected, also asks for a "transparent and homogeneous" data input model to be able to draw a clear picture "without manipulation or concealment" of the epidemiological situation.

Madrid, for its part, attends the meeting with the intention of demanding stricter protocols at the Barajas airport , the first gateway to the national territory "for people and viruses." Galicia joins these communities and will demand greater coordination and a single legislation to cut off the regrowth, while Murcia will add to these demands vigilance and a strict protocol before the arrival of boats.

Asturias will insist on the need to reinforce the National Health System and centralize, through a newly created state company, the purchase of medical materials and products. Its president, Adrián Barbón, will also advocate for giving more weight to the Government in the Inter-territorial Health Council, a body that should have executive capacity in relation to public health.

Castilla y León will demand of Sánchez the legal provision promised by the Government in order to provide the CCAA with an "intermediate" tool that, without the need to resort to the state of alarm, will allow confinements to be activated if necessary. Until now, and always with judicial authorization, the autonomies can decree perimeter confinements within which there is mobility.

Autonomous competences

The meeting is held when 41 days have passed since the end of the state of alarm and the communities have taken charge of the situation according to their competences but without being able to cross the limits of action included in the decree of new normality and mired in fear to a new territorial expansion of the sprouts. As of yesterday, the Ministry was aware of a total of 412 active outbreaks with a total of 4,870 associated cases, 70% of them located in Catalonia and Aragon.

Pedro Sánchez has scheduled a long meeting - five hours - in which he will be accompanied by the four vice-presidents and the ministers of Health and Territorial Policy. A whole government team to face the demands of the communities that seek to leave the meeting with precise and coordinated action guidelines to convey a message of "serenity" to citizens and, also, with the assurance that the distribution of funds European aid will be "fair" and will not fall into the errors that, in the opinion of most communities, have been incurred when distributing the 16,000 million of the so-called Covid Fund.

Regarding European millionaire aid, the autonomous presidents demand clear explanations and details of the requirements and procedures that the plans and projects that opt ​​for them will have to fulfill. And, in addition, to have a voice, as Andalusia has requested, when deciding the priority of the investments to be made.

In this sense, Cantabria will defend that the cost of services in each territory is taken into account; Castilla y León , the needs of the CAP and the demographic challenge; Canary Islands, the circumstances that derive from remoteness and insularity; Andalusia , the projects derived from the Mediterranean corridor; Galicia will propose a firm commitment to Alcoa and Aspontes ; Murcia will influence the plans related to water and the recovery of the Mar Menor and Madrid will put on the table the project of the first hospital specifically dedicated to pandemics.

King Felipe VI will go to the Yuso monastery but will not be part of the meeting: he will only appear in the family photo and will share an informal breakfast with the participants before the start of the Conference.

A Conference with two absences

Empty chairs . The appeals of the spokesperson minister, María Jesús Montero, and the letters sent by the Prime Minister to Vitoria and Barcelona were of little use. Neither the Basque Country nor Catalonia will be present at the Conference of Presidents.

The reasons for the 'lehendakari' . Íñigo Urkullu has declined the invitation, arguing that the Government has failed to fulfill its commitments to the Basque Country. In particular, the holding of the Mixed Concert Commission to determine the level of possible indebtedness in your community.

The reasons for the 'president' . Quim Torra will not attend either and she has justified it due to the delicate epidemiological situation that Catalonia is going through and her discomfort in the presence of the King.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Pedro Sánchez
  • Salvador Illa
  • Adrian Barbón
  • Coronavirus
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